Public meeting on redesign of Ocean Drive tonight

Rachel Denny Clow/Caller-Times File
City engineers are designing less room for car traffic and more space for bicycles and pedestrians on a stretch of Ocean Drive and Shoreline Boulevard adjacent to popular bayfront parks, including Cole Park and McGee Beach.

Corpus Christi Caller-Times

CORPUS CHRISTI - Residents and business owners will have a chance Thursday night to view and comment on a proposed redesign of Ocean Drive along Cole Park, which calls for reducing the number of lanes from six to four lanes.

The meeting is 6 p.m. in Room 223 at First United Methodist Church, 900 Shoreline Boulevard.

The redesign of Ocean Drive, between Louisiana Boulevard and Buford Street, follows the spirit of the city's Bayfront Master Plan, City Engineer Dan Biles has said. Voters approved the project in the Bond 2012 election. It affects only stretch of Ocean Drive that's six lanes of traffic. A large majority of Ocean Drive — about nine miles road that follows the curve of the Corpus Christi Bay — is four lanes of traffic. It opens to six lanes in front of Cole Park.

Bids will be issued for this project in spring 2014 when design is complete. Another public meeting will be held when the contractor has been selected. Construction is expected to begin summer of 2014.

IF YOU GO

What: City engineers are considering redesigning the road, between Louisiana Boulevard and Buford Street, so there's more room for bicycle traffic. The lanes will be reduced form six to four lanes of traffic.